A first for Monaco in Singapore

Bomanbridge Media has partnered with the Monaco Government Tourist Office Asia, represented by Horus Development & Consulting, to host Asia’s first edition of the Monaco Film Festival in Singapore next month.

The Monaco Film Festival will be presented at the Alliance Francaise Cultural Center from October 14 to 22, with a VIP Gala held at the Capitol Theatre during the eight-day event.

The festival itself promises be an exciting celebration of the attractions of Monaco and Monte-Carlo, featuring films that over the last few decades have used Monaco’s location and exotic image.

In recent years the Government Tourist Office has focused on attracting more visitors from the burgeoning Asian market.

[caption id="attachment_14988" align="alignleft" width="398"] Swedish freelance photographer and film producer, Mattias Klum. Photo: Mklum[/caption]
Swedish filmmaker Mattias Klum screened his award-winning film “Vamizi, Cradle of Coral” to a prominent group of decision makers and journalists at the Oceanographic Museum during Monaco Ocean Week.
Mr Klum’s film brings attention to the fact that more than half of the coral reefs in the world are populated by more than two million species, but more than half of the coral reefs have now disappeared. According to current forecasts, all of the world’s coral reefs will be eradicated by 2050. By the same year, the population of the world will have exceeded two billion people. Today, 850 million people depend on the sea for their direct sustenance.
“Keeping the ocean eco system intact is absolutely critical to avoid a global catastrophe,” said Mr Klum.
These issues are more crucial now than ever, since the new US administration recently declared it will abandon important parts of the new climate legislation initiated by President Obama.
When the new US government chooses to abandon their new climate legislation, it’s more important than ever to show the direct consequences, but also where to find hope. Vamizi is in many ways a perfect positive example, Mr Klum commented.
Mattias Klum was in Monaco, together with his fiancée and artist partner, Iris Alexandrov, the Secretary General of WWF, Håkan Wirtén, and Carl Gustaf Lundin from IUCN. Queen Noor of Jordan was present and took part in a Q&A session during the event.
The film portrays Vamizi as a so called ”hope spot” in a time where we’re losing or destabilising our ocean environments at a rapid pace. For most of the tropical coral reefs, natural resilience is a key factor. Located off the coast of Mozambique, Vamizi has been named a mother reef by leading scientists, as it has a central role, now and in the future, in saving other reefs that are in danger. Vamizi has so far managed to resist the environmental effect and one of the key messages of the film is what made this possible.

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[caption id="attachment_30511" align="alignnone" width="2000"] Heidi Saman, Princess Grace Awards Foundation-USA, was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces to Watch. Photo: Facebook IEFTA[/caption]
The Monaco-based International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA) returns for this year’s 71st Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 8-19, with new initiatives.
With its mission to discover, nurture and empower budding filmmakers from emerging economies, IEFTA once again, in partnership with the Marché du Film and its Producers Network and Industry Workshops programmes, will bring filmmakers to the South of France for a career-developing trip to Cannes.
This is the first year of IEFTA’s new partnership with the Princess Grace Foundation-USA to sponsor one of their Award-winning filmmakers in Cannes. Prince Albert, Vice-Chairman of the Foundation, said: “The Princess Grace Foundation-USA has identified and supported some of the most talented, ground-breaking filmmakers in America.
“This year, the Foundation partners with IEFTA to afford Princess Grace Award-winning filmmaker, Heidi Saman, the opportunity to participate in Cannes’ Marché du Film Producers Network. Offering Heidi this chance to promote her film, The Armenian Club, aligns with IEFTA’s mission to advocate for diverse filmmakers from around the world. We look forward to this being the first of many collaborations to come.”
While it’s the eighth year that the association’s Global Film Expression (GFE) program, which provides opportunity and education to those with little to no access to resources for cinematic expression, will be presented in Cannes, this year marks the first time that GFE filmmakers from Egypt and Palestine will attend through IEFTA’s support of the El Gouna Film Festival programme focusing on emerging talent from the Middle East.
Also during the Cannes Film Festival, IEFTA will present a documentary work-in-progress. Beyond The Raging Sea follows the harrowing tale of two Egyptian world-class athletes and adventurers, Omar Samra and Omar Nour – affectionately known as O2 – as they take on the world’s toughest row, an unsupported, perilous 3,000 nautical mile journey from the Canary Islands to Antigua. The extreme journey is part of an annual ocean-rowing race called the Atlantic Challenge. They didn’t make it.
Sponsored by DHL, Team O2 dedicated their row to raising awareness of the global refugee crises. In an ironic twist, Nour and Samra faced the same dangers, terrors and decisions of those they meant to recognise and relieve. In this film, an elite adventure introduces us to extraordinary people in exceptional circumstance, navigating existential threats and gruelling ordeals, fighting for survival and what comes after.
The screening and a panel will be Saturday, May 12, from noon to 1:50 pm in Palais K in the Palais des Festivals.